Page 33 of The Werewolf Cowboy
Blinking, he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets. “Yup.”
It made no sense. How could she know anything about this strange, new world? “I don’t understand. It feels…”
She looked around at the evergreen trees, which turned out not to be evergreens after closer study. They were a mixture of dark green with purple, with thick trunks and sheltering branches.
“I remember this place, as if I’ve been here in my dreams. How is that possible?”
He reached over the door and fumbled with an ornate silver key and unlocked the front door. “I’ll tell you later, after we’ve settled in, had some chow.”
Katy wondered what “chow” was in this world.
The cottage’s interior was clean, with a sofa, twin armchairs set before a rock fireplace, and bookcases filled with reading material. Over the fireplace mantel hung a silver sword.
She turned to Grayson. “No rifle?” It was hard to imagine Grayson without his rifle, always carried in a leather holder on his horse.
Equally odd to see him here, without his black Stetson. His brown hair, cropped short, looked soft to the touch. She longed to run her fingers through it.
Katy put her hands behind her, aware of the thrumming in her blood indicating that soon she’d come into her heat. Terrific. All she needed to worry about, and now her body was tingling with sexual demands. Blame the kiss in the cavern. It cranked up all her body’s needs.
Forget the evil and threats. Sex came first. She nearly laughed at that thought.
“No rifle. No guns in this world. We use ancient weapons, forged by the Dark Fae. Much more deadly than a rifle. Skin weapons don’t function well here.”
An opened door showed a king-sized four-poster bed with rough-hewn timbers for a headboard. Katy avoided looking at that room, though her wolf nudged her to take a peek.
And maybe assess the bed for later use with him…
It had to be a very sturdy bed for what her body wanted him to do to her.
Flushing, she turned away, but not before she caught Grayson’s mouth twitch, as if he read her mind.
“Food first,” he announced. “Freezer’s fully stocked with game. Won’t take long to defrost.”
She frowned. “You have electricity here?”
“Not power in the traditional Skin sense. Magick.” Using his forefinger, Grayson traced the air. Purple and pink runes danced in the air in the patterns he drew. “Magick’s all around us, Katy. Just need to know how to harness it.”
In the kitchen, he showed her the refrigerator/freezer. It was a gray box with a humming motor just like that in the Skin world, but it emitted a soft purple light. She ran her hands over it, and felt a slight tingle.
Grayson showed her a silver line snaking from the box to the wall. “This is the outlet, which is rigged to wiring throughout the house, which is fed by the earth beneath the cottage. Long as Wolf Haven exists, we have all the power we’ll ever need.”
In no time, he’d defrosted two steaks and grilled them on the gas range. They ate beneath the light of an antler chandelier that glowed bright yellow. Conversation revolved around their favorite meals, but he told her nothing about this strange, new world, nor did he mention the Dark Forest.
Katy finished her steak, and sipped from her water glass. “Thank you,” she said. “I appreciate this, Grayson.”
His ice blue gaze met hers across the dining table. “I’ll always take care of your needs, Katy.”
It sounded as if he wanted to address all her needs. Her hormones sighed in agreement.Oh yeah, you can take care of them right on that big bed of yours…
Pushing back from the table, she murmured an excuse and went to find the bathroom. When she was finished, she stared at her reflection in the mirror over the sink. Her skin looked more delicate, almost pale, and her eyes were bigger and lashes longer.
She almost looked pretty. Was it this place doing this to her?
Hard to imagine.
Katy joined Grayson outside on the front porch. Insects buzzed in the trees and an owl hooted nearby. As she sat in the rocker beside his, she could almost imagine they were on his front porch back in Montana, not in some strange Other kingdom where centaurs slashed and killed with their hooves.
“You okay, Katy?” he asked.
